See more coverage of this event on the main IISD ENB website

We have launched a new website to better share our reports of global environmental negotiations.

As well as current coverage of new negotiations, you can find our original reports from this event by clicking here.



Draft Platform for Action
Annex III
AMENDMENTS TO THE INITIAL POSITION OF THE GROUP OF 77, SUBMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Beijing Declaration

We, the Governments, the women and men, participating in the Fourth World Conference on Women, gathered here in Beijing, in September 1995, on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations,

Celebrating the voices of women from throughout the world, the work of women who paved the way before us and the hope present in our youth,

Recognizing:

that the world has undergone significant change in the past decade that has advanced the status of women in many aspects, that now, more than ever before, the critical and multi-faceted roles of women in economic, social, cultural and political life are being duly affirmed, that continuing poverty and failure to adhere to human rights threaten further improvements in the status of women,

Reaffirming:

faith in the equal rights of women and men enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, the objectives of equality, development and peace in the Nairobi Forward- looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, the commitment made through the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, that the Fourth World Conference on Women builds upon the fundamental progress made at previous United Nations conferences - on women in Nairobi in 1985, on environment and development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, on human rights in Vienna in 1993 and on population and development in Cairo in 1994 - and at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995,

Convinced:

that equal rights, equal sharing of responsibilities, opportunities and harmonious partnership between women and men are vital to the well-being of humanity, that sustainable development requires full and equal participation of women and men as both agents and beneficiaries, that national, regional and global peace is attainable and women are a fundamental force in leadership and for the promotion of lasting peace.

[Go to start of Document]